(DCWatchdog.com) – In comments that have been interpreted in more than a single way, former President Donald Trump has reacted to the alleged murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by the Vladimir Putin regime by saying that the United States is “a nation in decline” and a “failing nation.”
Trump, 77, compared his judicial persecution by leftist prosecutors to the fate of 47-year-old Navalny, who perished at the end of last week in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic.
According to the late dissident’s family, he was killed by the Putin regime with a Soviet chemical weapon, the Novichok nerve agent.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country. It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions are DESTROYING AMERICA. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024,” the Republican nomination frontrunner added.
Navalny was pronounced dead by Russian authorities just weeks before Russia’s presidential elections, where Putin, who has been in power since 2000, is expected to win another six-year term without facing any real competition, The New York Post notes in a report.
Trump’s commentary refrained from mentioning Putin directly, and attracted criticism, notably from Nikki Haley, a fellow Republican and rival for the presidential candidacy.
Haley blasted the former president for not addressing Navalny’s death sooner and for his ambiguous stance towards the US-led NATO alliance.
“It’s amazing to me how weak in the knees he is when it comes to Putin… because you look at the fact, he is yet to say anything about Navalny’s death — which, Putin murdered him,” Haley, 52, told “Fox & Friends” shortly before Trump’s post.
“We’re seeing all of these things happen, and Trump’s doing late-night rants about his court cases? He’s going to be in court for the rest of the year. We can’t be distracted,” she added.
After Trump’s Social Media post, Haley rebuked him for not outright condemning Putin’s authoritarian actions and instead, drawing parallels between American and Russian governance issues.
“Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug. Trump could have praised Navalny’s courage. Instead, he stole a page from liberals’ playbook, denouncing America and comparing our country to Russia,” she declared on X.
